A Well-Intentioned Lie
by Kanae Valentine
Summary: Her mother is a mess & her brother is only five. With her father gone, she has no choice but to step into the role of guardian. But living in the slums is difficult, especially when trouble seems to always find her & her family. Why?


**This is just a little one shot based from a Twitter RP OC character I have.**

**I'm dedicating this one-shot to a person whom I consider an awesome friend & an incredible Reno RPer. ^_^**

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She almost can't believe it even after several months... Her father... gone.

'An accident', they tell her.

But she knows the truth.

_"We have been observing your children and, at least the older, seems to show as much promise as you did. We wish to recruit them, once they are of age, of course."_

_"I'll not have them live this life. It takes too much and gives too little. No."_

_"You realize this is just a courtesy to you that we tell you this. We do intend to recruit them regardless."_

_"Then you'll do it over my dead body."_

She had been standing outside of her father's office when the exchange had taken place. Why had he said that? She has no doubt that his own words wrote his death warrant, which Old Man Shinra had only to sign. She knows it is true... Especially after what she saw at...

A gunshot tears through the stillness of the slums, shattering the tranquility of the night.

Instantly abandoning her own thoughts, she leaps to her feet even as more gunshots sound. Running out of the room she shares with her younger brother, she meets the terrified child in the hall and picks him up, carrying him with her as she sprints to her mother's room. She stops at the doorway, peering into the darkness of the room to see her mother standing at the window.

"Ma! They're shootin' again! Get 'way from th'window!"

Her mother, as though she had not even heard the words, continues to stare blankly out the window.

As a bullet tears through the thin walls only narrowly missing her little brother, she abandons efforts to get her mother to safety, instead running from the room.

Her brother is clinging to her and quietly crying again. Trying to comfort him as much as she can with the gunfight ongoing outside their home for the third or fourth time this month, she holds him close and hums a song she remembers her father singing to them.

At last reaching the safest place she knows of-a small closet nearly in the center of the house-she opens the door and gets inside with her brother, closing the door behind them.

Sliding down the wall to sit on the worn wooden floor, one hand remains holding her five year old brother, the other wanders to the handgun she had placed in the closet after the second incident two months ago.

It was her father's personal firearm, and he had taught her how to shoot it because he knew her mother would never be able to pull the trigger for any reason. He knew that his daughter, however, had it in her to do whatever was necessary to protect her little brother and mother while he was away for Shinra. She always had emulated her father, after all.

They remain like this for quite sometime even after the gunshots cease. It is not until they hear persistent knocking at the door that she decides she has to get up.

With a sigh, she sets her brother down and starts to stand only to realize the child had caught her shirt.

Another sigh and she kneels back down to him.

"Hey, kiddo. I gotta go answer the door."

At this, he violently shakes his head. "But what if is booglers?"

She puts on a brave smile for him and ruffles his bright red hair.

"Then I'll scare 'em away with a loud, 'BOO!'"

The child giggles at her. "Sissy's silly."

"Yeah. I guess I am... But you stay here 'til I get back, aight?"

With as much solemnity as a five year old can manage, the boy nods. "'kay, Ari... I stay here."

She gives him a quick hug, grabs the firearm, and then stands, cautiously stepping out of the closet and closing the door behind her.

The firearm in one hand, she approaches the door and, after a moment, unlocks and slightly opens it to reveal a tall man in a suit.

"Good morning, ma'am," the man says, speaking to her as if she were not ten years old. "Just checking up to make certain that no one is harmed."

"We're all fine," the girl spits back, uncaring that this man could likely kill her in a thousand different, painful ways.

An eyebrow raises but otherwise the man remains commendably stoic.

"That is good to hear. My partner and I saw where a few bullets had gone through your house," the man replies, before his expression changes into something she cannot quite name. "It would be such a shame if someone else was killed. Such a dangerous neighborhood."

"It's the slums," she retorts with a scowl. "Whaddya expect?"

The man's expression hardens.

"I wonder... I wonder if it would be so dangerous for a Turk. Who knows? Trouble might just vanish then. A shame one doesn't live here anymore. It'd be awful if anything happened to that little brother of yours. Good night, miss."

He starts to walk away even as her eyes widen in realization. All of this... The sudden increase in shootings 'conveniently' outside their house... It was because... And now they're threatening her little brother?

Jaw clenched and shaking with a mixture of fear and anger, she raises her arm holding the gun, takes a grip with both hands, and fires, shattering the window of the Turks' car even as the tall man was trying to get inside the vehicle.

The recoil had startled her. In fact, it had nearly knocked her over, left her hands stinging and her arms protesting the force, but at the moment she didn't care.

The man in the suit gawks for several seconds at what was moments ago the window of a car and then, finally processing what had happened, he turns to stare incredulously at her instead.

Adrenaline still coursing through her veins, she squares her shoulders and glares at the man.

"You, ya partner, and Shinra stay away from my lil bro or next time that window'll be one of _you_."

Without waiting for a reply, she slams the door shut and locks it, turning to find Reno standing in the doorway leading into the room, wide-eyed and with tears streaming down his face.

Immediately fearing the worst, she rushes to him and kneels, already starting to look him over.

"What is it, Ro?! What's wrong?!"

The child sniffles and rubs his eyes.

"Heard-a... boom an' thought..."

Though he cannot continue, she realizes what conclusion he must have reached. Setting the firearm down, she pulls the crying child into a hug.

"Hey... Ro... s'okay. I'm fine. Really."

The only response she receives is him snuggling closer to her, little hand nervously clenching and unclenching the fabric of her shirt. With a sigh, she shifts him to one arm and picks him up as she stands, lifting the firearm with her other hand.

Walking back to the closet, she returns the gun to its usual place before closing the door again and walking to her room.

"C'mon, Ro. I think it's time f'sleep... Maybe tomorrow'll be better."

Yet even as she speaks the assurance, she knows it to be no more than a well-intentioned lie.

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**Well, more one-shots may follow, but that's all for this one. ^_^**

**~Kanae~**


End file.
